Business litigation dispute is settled during arbitration

Disputes between partners or owners of a small business arise often in Oregon and elsewhere. Business litigation of this nature involves attempting to resolve the various claims that the longtime associates have against each other at a time when the relationship is winding down or already defunct. For example, two of the four founding members of Irgens Partners, LLC., sued the company that they had departed several years ago.

They claimed in the state court action that the company still owed them a total of $900,000 from the sale of a commercial building in 2017 by Irgens for $22.2 million. Although not specified in news reports, that could represent their claimed share of the commission from that substantial real estate transaction. The complaint is in fact based on a breach of contract allegation.

Each of the former members alleged that they had separation agreements with Irgens that they signed when they left the company. They claim that Irgens breached the separation contracts that the departing members had signed. In July 2017, the state court judge ruled that the case would be decided in arbitration. The company and the former members announced this week that the dispute had been satisfactorily resolved by mutual agreement.

The arbitration order by the judge may have pertained to a provision in the separation agreements that required disputes to be resolved by arbitration proceedings. Arbitrations mandates in business contracts will usually be upheld by business litigation courts. The resolution of conflicts between business owners is a common situation that business litigation attorneys in Oregon are accustomed to handling. The prevalence of arbitration provisions in modern contracts is widespread and a regular activity participated in by business law attorneys.